Computers have pervaded most aspects of our daily lives. Their usage has enabled great strides in our society in many different areas. As computer technology advances, the computing devices become more powerful and, at the same time, smaller in size. Business people, scientists and every day users have become attached to the usefulness of their computers to the point that they demand that the devices be made more portable so they can be carried at all times. This has led to development of “laptop” computers followed by even smaller “handheld” devices. The computing power in these portables often rivals much larger “desktop” computers. However, the desktop computers are normally plugged into an “infinite” power source, namely the local energy company via an electrical outlet. Portable devices do not have this luxury of unlimited power. They normally operate from various types of batteries which have limited energy and require recharging when that energy is depleted. Because portable computer users depend so heavily on their batteries, great strides have been made in increasing the available energy in batteries. Nickel cadmium, lithium ion, and other types of batteries have allowed prolonged computer usage on similar sized batteries. However, the technological progression of this type of energy source has reached a plateau of sorts and large breakthroughs in battery performances are not expected to occur any time in the near future.
Meanwhile, manufacturers have continued to produce faster and more powerful portable devices that require even more power to operate. Thus, the hardware has reached a point where strides in extra battery power are offset by the increased power needs of the faster processors. The net outcome of these advances is the same operational time duration out of a given device.
Users, however, continually demand that their portable devices operate for longer periods of time between recharges of the batteries. This has led to the application of various “energy saving” techniques to be applied in computing platforms via software. The main power using components tend to be the display, processor and hard drive of a computing device. Typically, these components remain active or “on” whether or not they are being used by the user. This is not a very efficient way to use power and most of the battery energy is wasted while the computer is waiting for the user to input tasks.
Energy saving modes were developed utilizing the computing device's software as a first attempt to prolong battery life from a given energy storage level. A user would select a mode such as “battery power” which would cause certain components to power down after a predetermined length of time. This often irritated the user because, for example, the screen might go blank after 10 minutes while the user was giving a presentation. Thus, the next evolution in energy savings techniques allowed the user to set the duration that certain components would remain powered on. This allowed, for instance, the user who was giving a presentation to set the screen to not blank for two hours so the presentation could be completed without a shutdown occurring.
This manual mode setting of duration, however, means the user must constantly adjust the duration or energy will be wasted. For example, after a presentation, the user could forget to reset the duration, to say 10 minutes, and chat with coworkers after the presentation is completed. In this example, the screen would remain operational for another two hours when it did not need to be powered on at all.
Battery energy conservation has progressed over time but it still has not reached maximum efficiency. Modern day users continue to demand that their devices operate longer between charges and without carrying multiple, heavy battery devices. Portable computational devices in our modern way of life can increase our productivity when they operate. A non-operational device, on the other hand, is not only counterproductive, it also becomes a burden that must be lugged around, providing no utility whatsoever.